(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote control system, a remote control method, a remote server, and a remote control agent. More particularly, the present invention relates to a remote control system, a remote control method, a remote server, and a remote control agent for controlling a remote apparatus to perform a desired service.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Thanks to the development of computer networking technologies, various research and technical developments for an Internet-based remote control system have been achieved. Such technical developments are focused on remote control of network-connected apparatuses such as a mobile robot, digital home appliances, automatic moving objects, etc., by a user via the Internet. In addition, Internet-based technologies enable a user to access services anytime and anywhere in the world by controlling a network-connected apparatus, and they also have the potential of being utilized in various environments such as industry, education, entertainment, and security, etc.
As World Wide Web (WWW) technology is widely used, remote control systems employing WWW technology are now being developed. Such systems control a remote apparatus by utilizing a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) or Java technologies on the basis of a Hyper Text Transport Protocol (HTTP). For example, a remote excavation system called Mercury, developed for the first time by the University of Southern California, an indoor mobile robot called Xaiver, developed by the Carnegie Mellon University, and a web-based painting system called PumaPaint, developed by the Roger Williams University, are well-known systems.
The control instructions of such systems provide behavior-based control functions for the corresponding remote apparatus. For example, control instructions for a remote control robot arm controlled via web browsers may include “OPEN-GRIPPER,” “GRASP,” “LIFT-UP,” “LIFT-DOWN,” and “MOVE.”
In more detail, as shown in FIG. 1, a user selects a control instruction and a control parameter according to an appropriate order while monitoring a robot arm 130 at a remote place through a web camera 140 based on a real-time feedback procedure 112, and transmits selected control instructions and parameters to a web server 110 performing a robot arm control procedure 111 through a user interface 101 on a web browser 100.
For example, the user checks what to move (an object), where to move it to (location), and the state of the robot arm 130, while monitoring the robot arm 130 at the remote place through the web camera 140, and sequentially performs following instructions for a “CLEAR-OBJECT” task. In general, one task is performed by sequentially processing the following instructions: “MOVE TO OBJECT,” “LIFT-DOWN,” “OPEN-GRIPPER,” “GRASP,” “LIFT-UP,” “MOVE TO LOCATION”, “LIFT-DOWN”, “OPEN-GRIPPER,” “LIFT-UP.” However, this process is complex and an error may occur during the processes.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.